Rubio Takes Quick Water Break In GOP Response

WASHINGTON (CBSMiami/AP) — Florida Sen. Marco Rubio’s Republican response to President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address included an impromptu water break to quench his thirst.

Rubio, who had mopped his brow a few times previously during the speech, was in the midst of maligning what he called “false choices” Mr. Obama laid out between big government and big business. But he interrupted his thought to grab a small water bottle apparently at his side, ducking down and nearly out of of the camera frame, before taking a sip and continuing with his remarks.

Commentators immediately pounced: On CNN, Wolf Blitzer was captured saying, “uh oh” as Rubio put the water bottle down again, and the brief sip of water lit up social media outlets such as Twitter, with people commenting on Rubio’s thirst.

Garrett Jackson, Mitt Romney’s personal aide during his 2012 presidential bid, tweeted that he “would have had that water bottle closer, had it been the Gov. Haha. Marco needs an aide.”

Rubio, however, acknowledged the incident in a lighthearted post-game tweet of his own — with a picture of the water bottle in question, along with the hashtag #GOPResponse.